Sunday, May 29, 2011

Is your dog micro chipped?

You may want to consider it. Thousands of lost and abandoned dogs are taken in by shelters and humane societies across the country each year. The sad reality is many of these animals never make it home because they couldn’t be identified. Pit Bulls are a large portion of those displaced dogs.

A simple device the size of a grain of rice could help prevent your dog from being a homeless statistic. Instead they could be one of the dogs that finds their way home safely.

Each microchip is safely implanted by injection under your dog’s skin. The process is quick and often painless. It’s described as being much like your dogs getting their vaccinations.

The chip has a unique identification number. When vets or shelters use special scanners they are able to detect if a dog has one. They can then track down a dog’s owner using a recovery service. (It’s very important to keep these files updated.)

Why Microchip?

Permanent form of identifying your dog.

Best way to improve the chances of your dog’s safe return.

Tags and Collars can become unreliable (lost, stolen, broken, illegible)

Tattoos can also become hard to read.

If you want to know where to go, the cost, or other information you can contact your vet, local shelters, or go to a local clinic event. Don’t forget the internet is also a good source for learning more.

Note - Our Pit Bull got his 24petwatch microchip in the shelter. Our Lab got her AVID microchip implanted by our vet during her spay. Many of the local clinics that do microchips use home again. Some companies such as 24petwatch let you register your chip whether it’s their brand or not. For more details check out their websites.